I'm so excited that Christmas is almost here! I'm super-glad that we are just about done with all of our shopping - a few more things and it's a wrap! I'm so glad I got started with my planning and shopping earlier this month, and let me tell you - it feels great to have the holiday shopping stress off my shoulders! I'm looking forward to lots of fun times with my family, sharing traditions and creating new memories. I hope to have lots more time to devote to RACK, and have my kiddos help so that they can really see that Jesus is the reason for the season. Anywhoo... I digress. :) I'm also super-pumped to have my monthly menu all set out. It really saves so much time to do it all at once. The best thing about it, is this menu is very flexible which is perfect for a month like December, when we have so much family coming in from out of town, so it is uber-important to be flexible since even the best laid plans can get a little off-track!

Ok, if you're anything like me, you love the looks of surprise when loved ones open their gifts at Christmas! But, it can be a real pain to try and keep your gifts and what you're shopping for a secret! I used to tuck mine in what I thought was a safe spot and then had family members find it!

But, the past few years, I have really loved my Gift Plan App that I purchased from the iTunes Store - best 99 cents I've ever spent! I love using this for my holiday shopping lists, but it can be used for other occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. If you use the calendar in the app, it will give you friendly reminders of an occasion that's coming up also. Each person gets their own "profile" if you will, with the option of listing out ideas as well as taking pictures, important info like purchase price and where bought! BUT, my favorite part of this whole app, is that it is password protected! No one can get in there except for me (cue evil laugh! bwahahahaha!) Except that I hope to God I remember what my password is lol!

Any-whoo, it's a great way to help organize my shopping lists and a great way to help me stay on budget! I hope you will give this app a shot. If you're not keen on spending $0.99 for it, there should be some similar apps that are free, so try them out as well!

Usually, I'm luckyif I've even started my Christmas shopping at the end of November... most of the time, it's usually after the first week in December. And by that point, we're all running around like crazy trying to find the perfect gifts for everyone, that we aren't able to truly enjoy the magic of the season with our family and friends. This year will be different because I came across this little gem of an idea from Kaley over at Cha-ching On A Shoestring! Essentially, she starts planning for Christmas in November. Well, duh, what a concept! *Light bulb going off*

So, it may sound a little crazy, especially given our busy and hectic schedules and still trying to plan birthdays and Thanksgiving - but I'm going to give it a shot! I used Kaley's ideas from her 20 Minute Missions, tweaked quite a few of them and using an excel calendar, created this very simple calendar to try this year. It is editable, so please feel free to download and tweak how you feel best.

I do have quite a few personalized gifts that I'll be ordering/making this year, so that will be taking up a considerable amount of time. Also, I plan to try and do as much shopping online using Amazon. Since I'm currently a student, I was able to take advantage of the student Amazon Prime rate, and in my opinion, the best feature is the free two-day shipping! Whatever I can't order online, I've got a day dedicated to shopping the weekend before Thanksgiving. My ultimate goal is to have everything ordered, purchased and wrapped, packages that need to be shipped to out of town family and Christmas cards in the mail by the end of November!

I'm ok with a month of craziness now, if that will better enable us to enjoy the Christmas season for all it's worth, with thermos' full of hot chocolate, checking out the Christmas lights, listening to Christmas music and celebrating the birth of our Savior with my family! Wish me luck, I have a feeling I may need it! Wishing you all a blessed holiday season!

November is going to be a busy month for us, with a family birthday, continued sports activities, family coming into town, Thanksgiving and getting ready for the holiday season! Let the craziness begin :) So glad that dinner is planned for the month, this will help save my sanity!